UW leader is 19th-highest paid public-college president

University of Washington President Michael K. Young was the 19th-highest-paid public-college president in 2012-13, according to a new survey of executive compensation at U.S. public colleges.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Young’s total compensation package of $770,000 in 2012-13 puts him in the top 20 of all public-college presidents.

It’s a slight drop from last year’s salary study, when Young was the 12th-highest-paid university president. Young did not receive a raise between last year’s survey and this year’s, a time when the average salary increased by about 5 percent.

Washington State University President Elson S. Floyd ranks 42nd, with a compensation package
worth $650,000.

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The analysis this year looked at total compensation divided by every $1 million in total expenditures for the university. By that calculation, Young made $194 for every $1 million in expenditures. The UW’s budget — which includes billions spent in health care and research — is $4 billion a year.

By contrast, Floyd made $735 for every $1 million in expenditures.

The Chronicle’s salary information is slightly dated because most university contracts run from July 1 to June 30. Young, like most UW employees, got a 4 percent raise in September, bringing his base salary to $570,000.

He also earns $193,500 in deferred compensation each year, which he will be eligible to collect if he stays at the university through 2016.

The Chronicle reported that for 2012-13, nine public-college presidents made more than $1 million.

Highest-paid president on the survey was E. Gordon Gee, former president of The Ohio State University. His total compensation topped $6 million, nearly 40 percent of which came from a deferred-compensation payout. Gee resigned from Ohio State last summer and is now president at West Virginia University.

The only West Coast president to make the top-10 list was Mark G. Yudof, the former president of the University of California system, who made $857,085.

When he presided over the University of Washington, Mark Emmert — now president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association — was one of the highest-paid university presidents in the country, with a compensation package worth nearly $1 million. At the time, Emmert’s position near the top of the pay scale didn’t sit well with some legislators and faculty members.

This year’s analysis included 256 leaders from 227 public colleges and systems. Executive pay at Washington’s other four-year public colleges was not included: Western, Eastern and Central Washington universities and The Evergreen State College.